Monday, October 27, 2014

Slowdive - Silver Screen

Look Back In Anger: I had the pleasure of entering a portal of pure bliss this past Saturday, when I witnessed a performance by the recently reunited Slowdive, in New York City. One of the greatest sources of inspiration musically and creatively as a whole, Slowdive has had a massive impact on my life.
These days the the trappings of the Shoegaze sound are everywhere to be found, inhabiting the most prevalent of Indie Rock, as well as the most obscure. It makes perfect sense that a band like Slowdive would reboot at a time like this, yet its odd to think that a relatively minor musical movemonet, that remained relevant for about 5 years, has had such deep impact on today's sonic stratosphere. There's no point rehashing the in's and out's of the scene that celebrated itself, when its merely a Google search away. It is worth noting that a group like Slowdive could be classified as Shoegaze royalty. They endured virtually zero chart activity in the US through their span of the 90s, and on Saturday night they played a sold-out show to 3000 people.
Tonality-wise there are at least a dozen other modern and past acts who could accurately be compared to Slowdive, but few come close in dealing such devastatingly powerful blows via their song-writing. When the twinkling of the first few chords of Shine finally reaches a crescendo, one can almost feel that sun beating down in a mystical meadow. When the slide of the guitar bends back on itself in The River Man, you can picture the film to which it belongs. The greatness of Slowdive comes not only from their understanding and warping of Pop songs, but from the full spectrum of sensations that are evoked in each of their songs. Here's a demo cut of one of their early recordings of the Silver Screen. The quality here is rough, but song is top notch, touching on their earlier noisier roots: